Networking

I’ve been waiting for a day like today in the office since I started working for my local country radio station, WPOR! Mid morning my boss told me that High Valley would be coming in around noon to play us some songs. I’ve been covering at the desk at the radio station (which I absolutely LOVE) and switching off days with another girl. On one of the days that she was here covering, Dan + Shay came in unexpectedly and I was so jealous and bummed that I had missed them! So this definitely made up for it!

Surprisingly, I had yet to hear of High Valley and did some research immediately. Turns out, these two musicians from a rural Canadian town about as high up as Alaska are pretty talented! I guess they are a pretty big deal already in Canada, earning many accolades including 10 GMA Canada Covenant Awards, multiple CCMA Award and JUNO Award nominations and the 2013 CCMA Award for Interactive Artist of the Year. In 2014, their top 5 single, “Country Line”, held the record as the longest running Top 10 hit on the Canadian country music charts! They’ve opened up for several major acts including Little Big Town, Alan Jackson, and Shania Twain.

People often wonder how I get to do all of the crazy things that I do, like attend shows for free, win contests, or hang out with/meet the artists. Most attribute it to luck. “You have the best luck out of anyone I know!” they often tell me. In reality… it isn’t luck at all. Here I am, sharing my secrets with y’all. It takes determination, a strong will, courage, confidence, and some good ol’ fashioned work! You’ve got to be willing to put in the effort if you really want something!

Step 1: RESEARCH

It’s all about research… you’ve gotta do a whole lot of research about the particular artist or group of the show you are going to. 99.9% of the time, I’m already following the “artist page” on twitter and instagram… but you’ve gotta break it down more than that. You need to find out all the band members names… then figure out other connections; like their tour manager, sound guy, photographer/videographer, close friends, stylists, or anyone related to the production of the tour or insiders at the venue. Also be clear of which radio station is hosting the event and make sure you are following the individual radio hosts as well as the station. (This also benefits you in case they are giving away extra tickets to the concert or Meet & Greet Passes… keep your eyes open!) Even if you already have tickets… the ones they [the radio station] give away could be seat upgrades and you could always give the extra pair to some friends. I personally do not condone reselling the extra tickets [aka scalping], but if that is something you choose to do… for the love of God, don’t jack up the price to make a hefty profit. That’s just not cool. Or fair to the person buying them. And it certainly does not benefit the artist! Don’t be greedy… it’s bad karma!

You’ve gotta start this process weeks in advance… once you can identify certain people (by “creeping” social media sites more or less) then you follow them on twitter/instagram or whatever your preferred choice of social media is. I’ve even got artists on snapchat and as facebook friends*.

*Requesting to be friends with someone in the industry on facebook is not recommended unless you personally/actually know this person. That’s really just plain creepy and stalker-ish. It might even get you blocked or reported.

Hi guys! I have spent most of today trying to #makeIThappen (and all the while D. Jenks [@donaldsjenkins] retweeted and favorited my tweet about that!) Anyway… Chase Rice’s manager (@John_Lessard) responded to me on Friday about what he majors in and what colleges in the Nashville area offer them. He is an Entertainment Industry Studies major and a Music Business minor, and he met Chase at an industry party and they hit it off. So yes, you DO need an education background in the music business, but it’s also all about connections and who you meet!

With that being said, I have spent the past couple days on my LinkedIn profile, trying to “make connections”. It’s difficult because people have to accept you, and although I know who all these people are (Like Jessica Northey, Jenny Driessen, Jamie Vess, Justin Mrusek, etc) THEY don’t know who I am. I’ve been writing up a little something every time I send a request, and luckily Rich Redmond (@RichRedmond/@crash4success) accepted me, most likely because this connection-who-you-know-thing is one of the things he passionately teaches about in his CRASH Course for Success. Which I was grateful for the opportunity to attend this summer. I’ve spent the day browsing record label CEO’s and printing out inspirational people’s resumes who have jobs I would enjoy in the industry to try and see what I need that would help me. Unfortunately, most of these people went to school for it and have a TON of experience, and I feel like I am starting out so late in life! I just turned 30 and now I finally figure out what I want to do with my life? Luckily I have an advantage in the “Tour Photographer” dream with my Associates Degree in Graphic Design and Photography.